Max Verstappen secured an 18th victory of the season as he overcame a penalty and a collision to win the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Verstappen was awarded a five-second time penalty for forcing pole-sitter Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari off the track on the first corner of the race, before a collision with Mercedes’ George Russell left the Dutchman’s Red Bull with a damaged front wing.
But having already secured a third straight drivers’ championship, Verstappen battled back to claim yet another victory, one that extends his record for most wins in a season and also ties him with Sebastian Vettel on the list of all-time wins with 53 triumphs now to his name.
Leclerc had been leading with 13 laps to go, and though he ultimately missed out on a first win of the season, he did recover to pass Sergio Perez on the final lap to finish second and deny Red Bull the one-two.
MAX VERSTAPPEN WINS IN LAS VEGAS! 🏆
The World Champion fought back hard to re-take the race lead, and never looked back 👏👏👏#LASVEGASGP #F1 @REDBULLRACING @MAX33VERSTAPPEN PIC.TWITTER.COM/ZYQF8HTNN1
— Formula 1 (@F1) NOVEMBER 19, 2023
The race had two safety cars and was exciting throughout, with Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll profiting to finish fourth and fifth respectively, while Carlos Sainz fought back to finish sixth after incurring a 10-place grid penalty before the race.
Lewis Hamilton weathered two collisions to finish seventh, while his team-mate Russell finished the race eighth after he was penalised for the clash with Verstappen.
McLaren’s Lando Norris was involved in a heavy collision on the fourth lap of the race and was taken to hospital for precautionary checks.
Las Vegas Grand Prix result
1 – Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2 – Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
3 – Sergio Perez, Red Bull
4 – Esteban Ocon, Alpine
5 – Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
6 – Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
7 – Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
8 – George Russell, Mercedes
9 – Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
10 – Oscar Piastri, McLaren
